Samsung Heir Sentenced to 5 Years In Jail

The heir to the Samsung business empire, which includes the world’s biggest smartphone maker, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for bribery and other offences in connection with the scandal that brought down South Korean president Park Geun-Hye.

Lee Jae-Yong’s penalty could leave the giant firm rudderless for years and hamper its ability to make key investment decisions.

The vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, 49, arrived at Seoul Central District Court on a justice ministry bus handcuffed, bound with white rope around his dark jacket, and carrying an envelope of documents.

Lee was found guilty of bribery, embezzlement, perjury and other charges centred on payments and promises by Samsung totalling 43.3 billion won (around $40 million) to Park’s secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil.

The court found the money was in return for policy favours including government support for Lee’s hereditary succession at the group, after his father was left bedridden by a heart attack in 2014.

The defence had denied the charges, saying Samsung was pressured by Park to make the donations under duress — and that Lee was not aware of them and did not approve them. Four other top Samsung executives were also convicted and received sentences of up to four years.

Lee’s lawyers said he would appeal.

The demonstrators who mounted giant candlelit protests against Park last year also targeted Lee and other chiefs of the chaebols, as the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate Asia’s fourth-largest economy are known.

South Korea’s GDP is still growing but social and economic frustrations have mounted over the benefits not being equally shared.

Around 800 riot police were deployed around the court to prevent possible clashes between rival sets of demonstrators, Yonhap said.

It was deluged with hundreds of applications for the 30 seats in courtroom 417 available to members of the public, which were allocated by lottery.

Park’s own trial began in the same room in May, and it also saw Lee’s father Lee Kun-Hee convicted of tax and other offences in 2008, receiving a suspended sentence.

Samsung appears to have been unaffected by Lee’s absence so far — he was detained in custody in February — with flagship subsidiary Samsung Electronics making record profits on the back of strong demand for its memory chips.

The ruling is seen as a strong indicator of the likely outcome in Park’s trial, as some of the charges against the ousted head of state her are inextricably linked to the accusations Lee faced.

Allan Bangirana is a freelance writer for Newslibre and Spur Magazine. He is also the co-founder of the Innovware project and a freelance consultant passionate about tech, programming, games and entertainment.